[Leia]

Hello Everyone,
I have a beautiful 3 year old cockapoo, Leia who I keep very clean and I get her groomed professionally every few months and brush her often. I went away for a long weekend and my mother in law who loves leia watched her. When I got home, she was horribly matted

I am so frustrated. From day one with Leia, I have kept her beautiful white/Buff coat lovely. She won't let me brush her, she takes the brush out of my hand and runs away. As funny as it may sound I feel bad for her because I think as gentile as I possibly can it must be hurting her .

My question is, should I take her to get shaved and start over or is there something else I can try to do for her? She is going to look so silly without her coat, I have never seen a cockapoo without a coat. I ultimately want whats best for her.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Lauren

 

[colpa110]

I think it may just depend how bad she is...there are lots of matt busting tools and lotions out there but will probably still be a struggle if your dog doesn't like being brushed.

 

[Scarlett]

I think that most people have been in your situation with a cockapoo! I recently bought a spray made by Tropiclean that helps you to brush out the mats and helps stop the hair from matting in the first place. I am finding that it is working with continued use, but I didn't notice a difference immediately after spraying it on her the first time - so keep with it! Scarlett is really good about being brushed though. I usually snuggle up with her, spray on some dematting spray, and give her a treat. She sits pretty well and lets me brush her, but she will definitely let me know when she has had enough! I also have brushed her regularly since we brought her home, and when her hair is longer, I brush her every day, which really helps. There have been a couple of mats that I found it much easier to just cut out of her hair. If she only has a few mats, brushing them and cutting a few out could work well for you. If there are too many mats and you are really worried about hurting her, you could get her hair cut short. Most people prefer the longer cockapoo look, but they are such cute dogs that they look great with short coats too. One final suggestion is maybe taking her to her groomer and seeing what they suggest. Good luck with everything!

 

[Leia]

thanks

thank you,

I will buy the spray and i think she needs to get her coat cut short for summer here in NJ is wicked hot this year, I appreciate the suggestions and for making me feel better, I really do feel like it is hurting her when i try and brush the mat out. I have an appointment for her with the groomer on thursday.

 

[colpa110]

Rather than shave the whole coat you could always just snip out the really bad matts - this is what I do.

 

[Cris]

Oh dear my poor baby!

We've had to have Keltie shaved as she was so matted - I felt terrible when I took her to groomers (did try to get an earlier appt but they were so full) - didn't want them to think we were neglecting her coat. We really struggle to get her to stay still when we brush/comb her and the matts just kept coming - she adores the wet and mud and I think this just adds to the mess her coat gets in. The groomer told me to 'be prepared!' as she felt she would need to shave her and now she looks like a meerkat. We're 'pretending' to brush her every day (cos there really is nothing much left to brush!) to try and get her to settle and allow us to groom her as her coat grows back. Can't wait to have her looking cockapoo again! I would say if matts are too bad get them to shave/cut close and start again, if you can bear how strange she looks as it's probably not very pleasant for the dog to comb out lots of matted fur. God love her she looked really embarrassed when I picked her up (like she was naked!), didn't help that my so called friends (and family) laughed at her when they saw her - I still love her, with or without her fur coat.

 

[colpa110]

Aww poor Keltie....how often were you brushing her???

 

[JoJo]

Better to have her shaved than struggle with really large matts ... Matts are one of my worst fears .. I run a comb or brush through my dogs every other day or daily with a fur ball spray, and I am always feeling for matts .. as soon as a matt appears (they appear quickly!) I am on to it ... grrrr I hate matts ...

Another silly sayings .. so here we go .. prevention is better than cure but prevention is full on hard work too lol and we are only human ..

 

[DONNA]

Buddy wont sit still to be brushed either so the only way i can do it is if he has something in his mouth to chew (which is usually an old dog brush) at the moment he is full of sticky balls!! they are a nightmare and it takes two of us really one to distract and hold him and the other to brush.

He usually has a bath every time he goes off lead as he comes back filthy im using pet head shampoo and conditoner at the moment and while the conditioner is on i try to comb it through in the bath (he dosnt move while standing in there?) this has helped with the matts on his legs.

I have him clipped underneath which is a god send im sure he would be totally matted under there if he had fur.

 

[baking mama]

Dont worry! It will grow back quickly. Looking at your pics it reminded me of what happened to Freddy. I was keeping on top of the matts (just about!) and we left him for a weekend with my in-laws who brushed him with the wrong kind of brush and he ended up with huge matts. I took him to the groomers and they had to shave him - he looked exactly like Keltie after his "haircut". My husband wouldn't walk him and he literally stopped traffic on the way to school (people were so shocked by his appearance).

But, after all that - it grew back even better than before, and now I think it was the best thing I could have done. He looks much tidier and it is easier to maintain.

Lets just hope we get some lovely hot weather and your 'poo will feel the full benefit of her cut.

 

[kendal]

it takes time for you to learn what length or coat or what coat stile you find manageable. if you having trouble with you dog running off pop a lead on him so he cant.

never just let your dog just run off after a grooming season, have a nice petting season or a cuddle. you don't want him to dart off want him to walk off slowly or jump about and want to play with you.


dematting is easier on a wet coat, when the coat is dry it frizzes up and hides the aria you are trying to work on where as a wet coat will show up all the lumpy matts that you are looking for.

if you are going to cut the matts don't just cut it out, cut the mat from rut to tip so you are splitting the matt but you aren't cutting a big chunk out the coat.


i have 4 girls all very different in coat, gypsy mats as soon as you look at her but she is so easy to brush out. Echo and Inca don't mat too badly unless i leave them too long, Echo has a lighter coat with more of a wave than a curl, where as Inca is curly.

Delta is so thick she mats so quick too much is hard work getting them out, she is the one i need to spend the most dematting time on.

 

[Cris]

Thanks for all the really useful advice - its really appreciated.